| Pascal Rigo | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bordeaux, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | University of Bordeaux |
| Occupation | Restaurateur |
| Known for | Owner of The Bay Bread Group |
Pascal Rigo is a French-American Restaurateur who owns a small "empire"[1][2] of boulangeries, restaurants, and wholesale and retail bakeries in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California that operate as Bay Bread, La Boulange, and (formerly) Cortez, Chez Nous, Gallette, and others.
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Rigo was born in Bordeaux, France, and after running a daily errand to buy two baguettes for his family,[3] apprenticed at his village's bakery at age 7.[4] He earned a business degree from the University of Bordeaux, was certified as a professional baker, then worked for several years with his father as a wine merchant.[4] He first moved to California in order to begin importing local wine to France, but stayed to open a bakery in Los Angeles then later, San Francisco.
In 1996 Rigo founded Panissimo Group, which ran the bakery on Pine Street that became Bay Bread.[4] He chose to live, and have an office, at the central location in a former French laundry on the busy thoroughfare so that he could travel to anyplace in San Francisco within fifteen minutes to personally attend to his businesses.[4] Rigo bought, and continues to operate, San Francisco's oldest flour mill, which Bay Bread uses to produce organic flour for its loaves.[4] Rigo originally intended to operate as a wholesale bakery, but soon began selling loaves and then croissants to the public. A positive review in the San Francisco Examiner initially popularized the bakery.[5] Rigo renamed it the "Boulangerie", after painting the word on the colorful awning over the sidewalk, then opened similarly themed dine-in bakeries throughout the city. One, in Cole Valley, is the site of the former Tassajara Bakery,[6][7] where San Francisco's modern artisan bread movement began.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Rigo and his business partners invested in, and founded, a number of restaurants including Soleil, Rigolo, Gallette, La Table, Le Petit Robert, Chez Nous, Americano,[3][8] and Plantanos.[1] One, Cortez, earned a Michelin Star.[9] In 2001 Rigo and partners bought Oh-La-La, one of San Francisco's oldest coffee house chains.[6][10] The group later divested of most of its restaurants to concentrate on its bakeries.[11][12] In 2009 it bought a share of Miette, a small chain of candy stores and cupcake bakers.[13]
Bay Bread sales were $12 million in 1999.[10] As of 2008 it used 700,000 pounds of flour per month.[14] In addition to its retail operations the company supplies bread to fine dining restaurants and hotels in the area, as well as grocery stores.[4] Some rival food entrepreneurs in San Francisco's small French entrepreneur community have criticized Rigo for his fast, and sometimes unsuccessful, expansion efforts.[15] The New York Times called Rigo "the only real entrepreneur" among the community.[16] Rigo has intentionally avoided publicity so as not to encourage a backlash from critics.[4]
In 2003 Rigo co-wrote a cookbook, The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen.[3][17]